Finally got crafty!!!

I got the last circle journal in the mail for my yahoo group and I sat down today to make my piece. For this one, we had to choose 3 words from a list we were assigned to (their were two lists) and illustrate them on an ATC without writing the word.

The words I chose were key, clock and leaves.

The clock art I found on a 12x12 piece of heavy patterned paper. It has all sorts of vintage images on it so I just cut out the squares I want to use instead of using the whole page on a layout. The key sticker I had in my stash and the patterned paper was also in my stash. I was going to put a leaf on there until I realized that the leaves show in the top right corner of the patterned paper....so that worked out great!

Well shoot.....

I have so neglected my blog and my crafting hobby. We have been busy just about every weekend and it continues to be that way. I am ready to get back into my groove and gt crafting again. I need to get caught up on my scrapbooking so bad!! And my blog, I still had an Easter layout! LOL

Here's a glimpse of what's been going on:

We went on our first cruise May 4-9th. We had a great time!! I would highly recommend a cruise to anyone! We met some great people and are still in contact through facebook and email.

The next weekend was Emily's 4th birthday party. I can't believe my little girl is 4!! If you are on my facebook page, I have posted a ton of pictures. If you're not on my facebook, look me up and friend request me. My email over there is ElisabethKOwen@gmail.com =)

May 31st, we went to visit my sister and her family. They had their sons dedicated to the church so we spent the weekend with them.

The first week of June, my parents were in TN so I had to take care of their dogs by going to their house each night. Thankfully they only live 16 miles from me.

Then we just had father's day. My brother, his wife and 3 girls were over from Mississippi for a couple of days so we spent all last week up there.

This weekend I plan to veg out.

Next weekend, 4th of July, we are going to Atlanta for a few days to visit with Jim's parents. That should prove to be an interesting time. It always is.

And last, but not least....July 9th, my parents and I will be flying from Montgomery, AL to Reno and driving to Sacramento, CA. My granny passed on May 18th and we are having the memorial service for her on July 11th. So we fly into Reno on the 9th, drive to Sacramento and stay the night with my Aunt. Drive to Florence, OR on Friday (about 8 hrs of driving), have the memorial service on Saturday. On Sunday, drive back down to Sacramento and then we'll fly back home on Tuesday. Busy schedule!!

Hopefully things will calm down after that and I can start crafting again. I'm also planning on painting my kitchen. I did my living room in May and I'm loving it.

Anyhow.....off to back my crop bag and head to the church. I want to do some scrapbooking tonight. The only thing I hate about going out of the house to scrapbook is that I don't have everything at my fingertips and I always leave something at home. When I start a page, I want to finish it right then and there! LOL

Happy April!

This past weekend I finished up a tag swap for my yahoo group. I'm satisfied at how it turned out. We had 10 participants including ourselves. We sent the tags to the hostess and she is going to put them in a special book for all of us to enjoy! I'm very excited to see the finished project. Everyone is our group has a different style and flair and it's cool to see everyone's creations.

I used SU cardstock and a Studio G stamp. The die cut flower is from Cricut "Walk In My Garden". I then used my cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls for the background. The dragonfly is a charm that I attached using a silver brad and then I drew the "fly" line with a black pen. For a "lasting" impression, I lightly sprayed each tag with "Moonlight Path" spray from Bath and Body Works.

At Last!!

I am finally posting something crafty in a long time. I've been in and out of my craftroom but haven't posted any of it.

Here is an ATC that I completed for a swap for my yahoo group COF.


I used my Cricut to cut the bunny from Doodlecharms. I added Sparkle N Sprinkle glitter in the color of Cyclemen. The pp is from DCWV Pocket Full of Posies. I colored the eyes and whiskers with markers. Nothing fancy but it works.

I have 3 other swaps on my table right now and a circle journal that I am working on.

My Craft Area

We had a last minute "challenge" this morning for Winterhaven. We were to post a picture of our craft area right then and there....no cleaning or tidying up. So here it is:

WinterHaven craftings part 1

This week at Stamp Haven, we had our first annual stamping event called WinterHaven. It's a week long event filled with stamping events and fun! Here are some of the cards that I have created for various challenges. FYI-I got a new laptop for my birthday and I haven't loaded my photo editing software on it yet so the pictures will look a little washed out.

Transport Me challenge: Use a TRANSPORTATION stamp. Any kind. Could be a car, plane, a boat, a cowboy on a horse, just something that carries people or goods from one place to another!

I didn't have the "normal" transportation stamp, so I used a reindeer stamp. I gold embossed it and then ran my red ink pad over it for a distressed look.


Wacky World of Wallpaper Challenge: Fabre sent out 4 different themed wallpaper packs and we were to make a card from it. The themes were baby, girl power, Americana and bon apetite.

This first one was with the girl power wallpaper which is my "patterned" paper. The ice cream cone is a shaker box. This is going to my niece who will be turning 5 next week. The sentiment is from TAC Trendy Greetings.
This one came from the baby wallpaper collection. My best friend is expecting her second son this August and this makes a cute congratulations card. The wallpaper is the background and the bunny that I cute out from another piece. The sentiment is from TAC but not sure what set.
This lovely piece of wallpaper came from the Bon Apetite. I chose the blue card to bring out the little bit of blue on the background. I added the sentiment which is a sticker.

And this last one is from the Americana pack. I used three different pieces, the background, the house and the sentiment. The sentiment is from TAC but not sure what set.

I have a few more cards but I'll upload those over the weekend.

I'm beginning to like painting....

Ever since I went to Corks N Canvas with my girlfriends in December, I've been wanting to paint more. Lynne (one of my co-workers) decided that she wanted to go there and try it out. So we are scheduled to go this coming Tuesday. While we were looking at the calendar of scheduled paintings, I came across one that I wanted to do but the night wouldn't work. So off to Michael's I went to buy some 8x10 canvases. I finished the painting last night:Everything is hand drawn by me including the words and steam. I'm actually surprised at how this turned out and Jim actually liked it. I told him that I wasn't sure who I was going to give it to and he told me to give it to him so he can hang it! I may frame it since it's a flat canvas. Here is what I adapted it from but they used a 16x20 on theirs:

Happy New Year and some crafty stuff....

Happy New Year to each one of you!! I have done many projects since my last post so I have a lot to show you. But, I won't do it all today. I'll space them out so it won't be an overload.

This project was for a circle journal. The instructions were to take 1 or 2 pages and put a tag of some type on there. I'm starting to delve into the vintage looking style and I must say, I like it.

My first painting

Melissia, Michelle, Dawn and I decided to go to a place called Corks & Canvas to do a painting. We went last night and I had a blast! It was a little loud since there was a group of about 15 ladies that were celebrating a birthday and I think they had some "spirits" before they got there plus they brought more. At this place, you are allowed to brink whatever you choose to drink while you paint. You can even bring in food. I decided to have a cappuccino. Here is the painting we were to do: Christmas Stockings. There was an instructor there "teaching" us how to do the painting. We started off with a blank 16x20 canvas and actually drew our picture on there and then painted it.

Here is my progress:
I didn't finish the stars on top because I can't draw a star for nothing. So I'm going to cut a star using my Cricut and trace around it and then paint it in. Why I didn't think about taking a star with me last night, I have no clue. I guess I thought that the image was already going to be drawn on there.

It's not a bad painting considering I can't draw with a flip and I drew it all. =) I will probably go back a do a few more. I would recommend that you all try this at least once if you have this type of thing in your area.

Stamped Canvas

I totally CASED this project from Ruby Claire! As soon as I saw her post, I knew I needed to try my hand at it. Be sure to visit her site as well for some awesome art inspiring ideas. =) My canvas size (5x7) is a bit smaller than hers but I was thrilled at how it turned out. This is a hanging canvas (hence the turquoise ribbon you can see at the top) for a friend of mine.

Here are some in progress pictures:




Here are the steps:
1. Cover your canvas completely in different brightly colored patterned paper.
2. Draw on a butterfly. (I got an outlines from the internet and traced it)
3. Gesso around the butterfly. (Not in it)
4. Outline the butterfly in black. (I used a black sharpie)
5. Paint the edges black.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels!! We are traveling to Atlanta tomorrow and will be back on Monday, Dec 1.

COF Circle Journal

I've been busy the past week cranking out some projects. Some of them I can't show until my Secret Pal receives them. =) But, I can show you the circle journal I completed.

Sandi's circle journal was an address book. She wanted us to take two pages and include our address, a picture of our house and a picture of us. Here is the front of her book:

And my entry (I've whited out my address and the pictures aren't grainy as they look here) :
I included a picture of my subdivision and the beautiful fountain out front. The HOA always does an awesome job of decorating it for the holidays and keeps nice flowers/shrubs throughout the year. I used my 50 States Cricut cartridge for the state cutout. The leaf and flower are both felt.

Christmas Decorating

Emily decorated our Christmas tree this past week all by herself. We decided to put it up last Wednesday since we would be gone from Thanksgiving until Dec 2. So we put on Christmas music and got to work. I unwrapped the ornaments and she hung the ones within her reach. Here is a slideshow staring Emily. The yard decor was done by Jim.

Thanksgiving Crafts

Emily and I made some Thanksgiving crafts this past week.

Here are some place cards for Thanksgiving. The body is my thumb print and the feathers are from Emily's fingers. I drew the legs, the beak, the red hangy thing (don't know the technical term for it) and drew the stitching around the border. Emily told me which ones to put the names on. These will go on the table at my mother in law's house. She had a fun time playing with the paint.

This one she had a blast with! I painted her hand and arm brown and "stamped" the page. Then had her add the leaves. The name printed on the right hand side, I helped her with by putting my hand on top of hers while holding the pen. The signature on the left, she did by herself. She's going to give this to Memaw (Jim's mom).

Girls Night!

I decided that Emily and I would have a girls night tonight! We started off with a candlelit bubble bath (yes we took one together), ate dinner, made some puppy chow and painted our fingernails.

Here are some picture of Emily and I making puppy chow:

Puppy chow is a yummy snack. The recipe is on the back of Rice Chex mix but here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

9 cups Corn Chex®, Rice Chex®, Wheat Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation Directions:

1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Prep Time:15 min
Start to Finish:15 min
Makes:18 servings (1/2 cup each)